The newest addition to Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park is most often curled up, fast asleep. Sometimes she’s on her feet, walking with her herd, nursing or timidly peeking from behind her mother.

But if visitors are patient, they might see the park’s first bison calf do something even cuter — frolic through the prairie grass.

More than a week after her birth, the small, reddish-brown bison is healthy and adapting well to her environment, park officials say. And it’s a hopeful sign as they prepare for the possibility of more newborns this summer.

The gender of the calf born on May 28 was initially in question — no one could get close enough — but park naturalists now are “almost certain” the bison is female.

Her birth could be the first of as many as six this summer, said Stephanie Shaffer, the park’s assistant manager.

A male bison was introduced to the herd from the Wilds animal preserve in eastern Ohio on Aug. 28, 2013, to mate with the six adult females that have been a park staple since 2011. The average gestation period for bison is about 9 1/2 months.

Shaffer said it’s difficult to tell whether a bison is pregnant until near the time of birth.

“We really had no idea that we would actually have a calf until after wintertime,” she said. “Just lately, they started really expanding and showing signs.”

Because the new calf is female, she’ll likely stay, said Tim Taylor, senior naturalist at Battelle Darby Creek. Male calves likely will be sent to the Wilds, southeast of Zanesville. If other calves are born, their father soon could return to the Wilds, Taylor said.

Since the birth, visitors have flocked to catch a glimpse of the calf.

Tammy Parcel often walks her dog, Abbi, through the park to watch the herd. She said it took several days to spot the calf through the prairie grass.

“I’ve been trying to see it, but the grass is so high,” said the resident of Prairie Township in western Franklin County. “I hope there will be more babies. I could sit here and watch them all day.”

Park officials will host a Bison Baby Shower from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the park’s nature center. It will feature a bison-shaped cake and special presentations from naturalists as well as a “registry” — soliciting donations to support the bison.